A small flying lantern cost millions in fire damage to the Rio velodrome when it landed on the roof of the building on Sunday. The flames took hours to extinguish, and by the time the smoke cleared, a large portion of the track built for the 2016 Summer Olympics had been damaged.

According to the Rio Times, "Launching unmanned hot-air balloons or lanterns has been a long-held tradition in Rio, often connected with religious celebrations." The practice was outlawed in 1998 due to the highly flammable nature of the lanterns, says the Times.

In an official statement from Brazil's Minister of Sports, Leandro Picciani speaks out against the dangers of releasing small lanterns. “The Ministry of Sport deeply regrets the incident this morning at the Velodrome Park and at the same time criticizes this criminal practice of releasing balloons,” Picciani says.

The 45-million-dollar velodrome was both costly and time-consuming to construct—made with special Siberian wood—and was one of the last pieces of Olympic infrastructure in place for the Games in 2016.

Unfortunately, the velodrome had only recently reopened since the Olympics, and has only hosted one three-day event. Picciani has promised to search for the people behind this hot air balloon stunt, but the future of the velodrome remains uncertain, though he has promised to make it operable as soon as possible. "We also point out that we will take all necessary measures for the Velodrome to be quickly recovered and returned to full operation," he added. (Want to take your training to another level? Check out our Maximum Overload training program.)

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